Ed Miller, longtime San Diego DA, dies

His influence spread throughout the state and across the country when he served as president of the California District Attorneys Association and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve on his Commission on Organized Crime.

Some of his office’s most noteworthy prosecutions included the death penalty case of Robert Alton Harris, who in 1992 was the first person executed in California in 25 years, and Cleophus Prince, who was convicted in 1993 of fatally stabbing six women.

His office also prosecuted then-Mayor Roger Hedgecock, now a talk-radio host and host of a show on U-T TV. He was convicted in 1985 of conspiracy and perjury charges related to campaign contributions.

Hedgecock’s convictions were overturned on appeal, and in a plea bargain to avoid another trial he accepted the felony conspiracy verdict, which was later reduced to a misdemeanor and eventually expunged.

It was a quick succession of problematic prosecutions that dealt a blow to Mr. Miller’s hopes for a seventh term in 1994.

It started with Jim Wade, a Navy man who was charged with molesting a relative. Prosecutors eventually dropped the case in light of DNA evidence that pointed to another man. But the Akiki case is widely viewed as Mr. Miller’s downfall.

Akiki, a former Spring Valley church day care volunteer, was acquitted of felony charges after awaiting trial in jail for 2½ years. The trial lasted seven months.

Mr. Miller was defeated in the June 1994 primary, beating only one of his four challengers at the polls. Paul Pfingst, who had worked as a prosecutor under Miller for four years, won election that November.

Pfingst said Monday that those “two unfortunate cases” shouldn’t overshadow Mr. Miller’s contributions to San Diego, the state and the country.